If L Stands For Love, Then Where Do I Stand?
by Tenshi Kuroka
Summary: Mizuki Hoshi. 21 Years Old. Owner of one of the six Death Notes allowed in the Human World at once. Detective. Afraid to Love. Afraid to Lose. LxOC
1. Chapter 1: Case

The sun rose over the horizon as I looked up over my papers. I had pulled yet another all-nighter without realizing it. Amra had kept quiet the whole time, which was strange for her.

I heard a knock on my door.

"Come in," I said, attempting to hide the weariness in my voice.

"Good morning Zuki!" said Kaori brightly as she entered my room.

She looked over at my still made bed then over to me.

"Have you even been to bed yet?" she asked.

"Nope," I said.

"Ugh, Mizuki Hoshi! Do you care about your health at all?! When was the last time you slept and for how long?!"

"Erm… The day before yesterday. Three hours," I replied.

"That isn't good for you!" She said angrily.

"Perhaps you should sleep more, Mizuki," said Amra quietly from the corner.

Amra, the shinigami, had been with me ever since I had picked up her Death Note. That was back when I was nineteen. I remembered that night as clear as crystal.

I had been on my way back to my dormitory when it fell in front of me, simple as that. Even in my young, naïve mindset, I sensed something ominous about this notebook.

I picked it up and examined it. Perhaps look for an owner? Keep it as my own? Perhaps it had fallen from the window of a higher office building. Despite my qualms, not to mention the million questions running through my head, I decided to bring the notebook home with me. I spent that night flipping through its blank pages. Why was it called a Death Note? There wasn't a thing written. Perhaps it was a serial killer's log of victims, and he had erased evidence. No, I mustn't think so morbidly.

The questions of the book's mystery kept me all through the night, and the next day. Through all my classes, all I could think of was the notebook sitting on my nightstand.

That night, I had sat on my bed, hesitating upon whether or not I ought to write something in it. It wasn't mine. But after all, it wasn't as if the owner would find me, or it.

As I sat there, pen in hand, I heard a voice behind me. I had never been easily frightened. As a child, the dark had never been my foe. Spiders, snakes, heights, things that which sent other children into fearful states. I was immune.

She (I could tell it was female) had a ten foot tall, long, turquoise scaly body. She was wearing what looked like a black buckle up suit that ended at her knees and elbows. She had black hair that flew like seaweed in texture in several directions. She had big flapping wings that were blueish and scaly like her body. Her eyes were spectacular, amber with red pupils and blue diamond shaped speckles in the amber.

"Wh-who are you?" I said to the creature.

"Mizuki Hoshi. My name is Amra. I am a shinigami, and you seem to have found my Death Note."

She had then gone into a lecture about what the Death Note was, how to use it, and what it was generally used for.

"Zuki? Zuki? Mizuki!" I heard Kaori's voice.

"Oh, yeah, what?" I said, shaking myself back into the present.

"Are you coming down for breakfast or what?"

"Depends... Did you make my favorite?"

"Yes Mizuki," she huffed.

"Marshmallow fluff on toast?"

"Yes," she said, "So are you coming down or not?"  
"Yeah. Coming," I said, putting my papers back in a folder and walking out of the room.

Downstairs, I found that Kaori had in fact made my favorite breakfast.

I started to eat when she said, "Zuki, you are the weirdest eater in Japan."  
"Nuh-uh," I said, with a mouth full of marshmallow fluff, "It's only food. It's not that unusual,"

"Yes, yes it is, but hey, whatever floats your boat I suppose."

I smiled and continued to eat my breakfast.

"So, did anything come of your all night session last night?"

"Well," I said, swallowing my toast, "I narrowed our list of suspects considerably.

"Really? Yesterday we had 15. How many are we down to?"

"3," I replied.

Her jaw dropped and she looked at me in bewilderment. "How did you come to that?!" she said.

"Takashi Omino... Couldn't have done it because I checked police records, he got a DUI that night at the time of the murder but it was hushed up because of his political status..."

I began naming off the other suspects and why they were not guilty.

When I finished, Kaori looked at me in amazement and said, "Now what about the last three?"

"Out of them, I truly believe the female is guilty."

"Akane Tuke? Why? She had no motive,"

"Oh yes she did. Did you know that love can turn the best people vile? I think Akane loved Mei Azura's husband,"

"But... All the witness reports stated that Akane was nothing but nice to Mei,"

"Oh, to her face of course. But deep inside, Akane nurtured a hatred for Mei. She came up with a very elaborate plan, which may have cleared her of suspicion if she hadn't made a fatal error in calculation. She slowly cut off contact with Mei so that her motive wouldn't be considered, but she did it too quickly. How does someone go from speaking to someone often to not speaking at all in two weeks? It doesn't happen."

I paused to take a sip of tea and let Kaori input her opinion.

"But even if that was true... How did she kill her?"

"Through a reliable amount of research and hacking into the forensics lab's systems, I examined the cell images myself and it seems that Mei was poisoned by an undetectable arsenic,"

"If it's undetectable how did u detect it?"

"I've... had expierience with it before. It makes minute changes to the internal cells in the blood, turning it slowly fatal. Process of diffusion and action takes about two weeks before the body shuts down and dies," I said.

"So you're saying..."

"Akane slipped Mei an undetectable arsenic, tried to destroy her connection and motive, and was thwarted by her simple error in timing," I said simply.

"Makes sense. But how can we prove it?"

"I thought of that too. I checked her purchasing records, and there's no such buying of such a substance, but if she purchased it with a disposable debit card and somehow destroyed the receipt on bank systems of exactly where she spent it, the transaction will still be apparent. All we would have to do is find the total of the transaction, search the black market for such a concoction, match up the price, and we have evidential support that Akane purchased arsenic and used it to slowly destroy Mei Azura."

"Wow, you're amazing Mizuki."

"Really? I don't think there's that much interesting to me, honestly."

She then looked at my face for a moment. "Zuki, you look awfully tired. I think you should sleep," she said.

"Maybe I should," I said, yawning.

"Go upstairs," my worrisome best friend ordered.

"Will you search for that evidential support? I'd really like to be done with this case today."

"Of course," she said, shooing me towards the stairs.

I went up, Amra following me.

"You're awfully quiet today, Amra, it's not like you," I said to her as we ascended.

"Really? I hadn't noticed,"

"For a shinigami you're an awful liar, Amra. Are you bored? If so I can kill another death row prisoner, but you know my terms. Only directly before injection."

"To be honest, Mizuki, I am a little bored, but you know, that kind of killing isn't very exciting. Just once could you kill someone out of the blue?"

"Amra," I said, stopping.

"Every day I work on cases. Mostly murder cases. Cases where a guilty person kills an innocent person. It is almost always guilty versus innocent. If I ever killed someone (again, I thought to myself), I'd become guilty, and I can't become what I despise. I cannot become the guilty while I protect the innocent."

"Are you understanding this?" I said to her,

"Not really, but I'm not too educated in human matters. Nevermind, just forget I said it."

"Alright, alright," I said, drawing my curtains.

I climbed into bed and fell asleep instantly.

It felt as though I awoke, but I knew I was in a dream. Everything around me was pure white. The floor was hard and white. I wasn't in a room because there were no walls, it was simply white abyss. I looked around for a little while, really confused as to where I was.

I stopped and stood still. I looked around. I saw something. It was in the shape of a man, I could tell from the body type. He was only a shadow, no detail or name to be given. He walked towards me. I didn't feel frightened, I didn't feel the urge to run away... I felt comfortable. Something about this stranger was odd. It was as if I trusted him with my life. And, for the most part in this odd, utopic dreamsacape, I did. He grabbed my hand and gently tugged me away, and I followed him. We walked on and on in the weird abyss. I was thinking we would come upon something very soon. Something that would make sense to this. But we didn't.

After what seemed like ages walking with this stranger, he stopped. He twirled me towards him. I faced his shadow, and he leaned in towards me. I didn't pull away, strangely, nor did I want to.

He was two inches from my face...

BANG.

I sat bolt upright in my bed, my heart going a hundred miles an hour.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry, I'm sorry," Kaori was whimpering as she cleaned up her mess. She had been working at my desk looking through last night's papers and reports when her bowl of ramen, her ideal breakfast food, fell from the desk, shattering onto my floor, sending bits of sharp ceramic and noodles everywhere.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," I said, catching my breath, "Are you okay?"

"I am, what about you?"  
"I think... Ouch!" I said. I felt a jabbing pain as I moved my left leg, which had been unconcealed by blanket when the spill happened. I looked down to find a jagged bit of ceramic stuck inside it.

I reached over and pulled it out. I was lucky. It wasn't very deep at all.

"Oh no, Mizuki, you're bleeding!" she said, running off to fetch me a band-aid. She returned with a Hello Kitty band aid and put it over my cut after I'd wiped the blood off with my shirt.

"Thanks, Kay," I said.

"No problem, I'm really sorry," she said.

"It's fine, it didn't even hurt," I said, smiling. I knew if I smiled, Kaori would be reassured.

"Okay," she said, smiling back.

"So did you get any of that evidential support done?"  
"Of course I did silly!" she said, pulling out a manila envelope.

Kaori may be a bit scatterbrained, she may be clumsy, but she is always on task.

Since I couldn't get back to sleep, I went downstairs, got on the computer, and began to hack police files to look through cases. I didn't like to be long without something to work on, ever.

Nothing seemed too interesting until I came upon one file. The Fortunato case.

Four people enter an abandoned, once-an-old-manor's catacombs in Takeshi-muri, Chiisagatagun. Two came out, the others were never recovered. The two who came out were in a manic state before they both passed away about three days ago. Hmm. This was very interesting.

"Kaori, come here for a second!" I shouted into the kitchen where my friend was.

"Yes?" She said as she came to my side, staring at the screen.

"What do you think of this case?"

"Sounds interesting... You thinking about taking it on?"  
"Yes, I am," I said, "It looks difficult. I've been up for a challenge lately."

"Well, it's your call Zuki, I'm just here to help," she said.

"You're here for more than that. I need your opinion before I do anything."

"Well, I think it'd be a really hard case," she started, "But if you're up for it, I think it'd be fun to work."  
"It's decided then," I said, smiling.

"It looks really time consuming though," she said, looking closer at the file's details.

"Are you absolutely positive that you want to spend so much time on one case?"  
"Really, Kaori, what else do I have to do?"  
"Well..." she started thinking, "You could try dating you know."

I huffed.

"I'd rather work one case for the rest of my life than _date_, Kay," I said, "Detective work harks more to me than any man could."

"It was just a suggestion, Zuki," she said, "No need to bite my head off."

"Sorry," I said.

"No problem," she said, instantly bright again, "So when are we starting this case?"  
"Now," I said.

"Now?!"

"Yup,"

"But, we've only just finished the last one today!"  
"Which means, of course, it's time for a new one."

"But,"

"Kaori, if you want a break, I'll just look through the files for the next day or so and you can have some time to yourself, okay?"  
"Okay," she said, exhaling deeply. She, unlike myself, had other interests to dabble in besides her job.

She went off to do something in the kitchen (if there was anybody who was obsessed with cooking, it was Kaori Hayashi), and I set to work on this case.


	2. Chapter 2: S

After about 3 hours of looking through files regarding the setting, victims, and properties of the Fortunato case, I'd decided that I'd had enough. I printed out the work I had done, including notes regarding the case, and took out a new manila folder. At the top, I took a Sharpie and wrote the word Fort., to stand for the case.

After slipping the papers into the folder, I was just starting upstairs when I heard Kaori from the other room.

"Mizuki, are you hungry? I made dinner,"

"Yeah, I'll be down in a minute, I have to put this file away,"

"You finished already?"

"I thought I'd finish up notations earlier today," I said.

I walked up the stairs and into my bedroom. I opened the cabinet with all my solved cases listed alphebetically. I added Fort. under F, and locked my drawer.

I always kept my case drawer locked, and the only other person who knew where I kept the key was Kaori. The lock had been specially made by a friend of mine who happened to be a genius when it came to metal sculpting and lock mechanism. It can only be unlocked with one key. No copies will work. And it was advanced enough to never be able to be picked.

I made sure I kept the information I held at great care. I also never revealed my name to anyone besides those I was incredibly close to. Kaori called me anti-social, and she didn't like living my anti-social lifestyle very much, but as long as she got to stay with me she was as happy as could be.

Whenever something case related forced me to talk with someone, I spoke under the alias Madge.

Kaori liked to meet people genuinely, but names create danger, and I could never endanger Kaori. So, as much as she didn't like it, I made her use an alias too. Kym.

Whenever it was professional, Madge and Kym were always seen and spoken to together.

As unimportant as she thought herself, Mizuki would never make a decision without first consulting her best friend, and Kaori likewise.

I was always very careful, simply because I felt one had to be.

My identity and the identites of others around me had betrayed me before, and I was not about to let it happen again.

I went back downstairs to where Kaori had boiled dinner waiting. I sat down at the table and looked around it. I looked up at Kaori with one eyebrow raised and an odd look on my face.

She sighed, "Yes, Mizuki, I am sorry, I will get your marshmallows."

I smiled.

I could eat marshmallows with anything. She brought out the little plastic bag and handed it to me.

"Thank you, Kaori," I said,

"You're welcome, weirdo," she said back.

"Ha. Ha," I said as I pulled a marshmallow out.

I ripped it in half, pushed it onto my fork, and put a piece of ham on the end and ate it.

"You know, I've gotten so used to eating with you that that doesn't gross me out anymore?" she said.

"Really? That's good. I'm glad that I no longer disgust you,"

"Yes, very good," she said with a small laugh.

Her face turned from happy smile to somewhat fearful as I quickly turned around and shouted, "AMRA! Honestly, you're depressed silence is pissing me off!"

Amra turned her turquoise face to me, alarmed.

"I didn't realized my quiet was such a bother to you, Mizuki," she said.

"Oh, you didn't did you? I think you're doing it on purpose. I know how you are Amra. You aren't an average shinigami. But you know what? I know when you're hiding something," I said.

"What could I possibly be hiding from you, Mizuki? I am within your vicinity ever minute of every day,"

"I don't know Amra, but I _will _figure it out," I said.

I could tell by Kaori's disturbed look that she would like me to end my anger, so I became silent and continued my dinner. But my eyes never left Amra's corner.

After dinner, I could see that Kaori was still upset about my outburst, so I did something I hadn't done in awhile and offered to help her with the dishes.

"Mizuki, you haven't done the dishes since we were in college," she said suspiciously.

"I have so!" I said, "The once."

I laughed and so did she.

She handed me a towel. My job was apparently to dry. I wouldn't trust me to wash and rinse either.

"So, how did your research today go?" she offered.

"I hadn't really done much, mostly read and took minor notes," I said,

"And?"

"Well, I realized there was far too much info for me to take in myself in three hours effort," I said,

"Zuki, you usually have a hypothesis to go on by now,"

"I don't think that's going to happen in this case, honestly,"

"Really? Wow it must really be hard if its stumping the great Mizuki Hoshi," she said grinning.

I smacked her arm lightly with the towel, and she in turn flicked suds at my nose.

Within minutes we were having a dish soap fight like we used to when we were eighteen.

Twenty minutes later, we were sitting on the floor, sopping wet, hugging our sore ribs from laughter.

"That," I said, "Was the most immature thing we have done in _years_."

"Yup," she agreed, "But it was fun!"

"Yeah it was,"

"You know what Zuki?"

"Hmm?"

"I miss this,"

I looked at her oddly.

"This," she opened her arms regarding the mess we'd made.

"For the past few years, ever since we decided to solve crimes, you've been so stiff," she explained, "We haven't been able to act like kids in forever."

"Yeah," I said, "But Kaori... We aren't kids anymore."

_And, _I added mentally, _I had no qualms about leaving my childhood behind me._

She had a sad look on her face.

"But maybe I do need to loosen up," I said, in last ditch effort to make her feel better, "In fact, I'll try."

That was a lie. I really had no intention of changing-the case was too important for an absence of seriousness now- but it made my best friend smile, and that was all I could ask for.

After we not only finished the dishes but cleaned up our mess, we headed off to bed.

I laid in my bed, wide awake, staring at the ceiling.

I realized what was wrong here.

Since when was I in bed unless I desperately needed to be? I was wasting time I could be using on the case.

But then I realized that Kaori would have my head if she heard my computer click on this late at night.

"Amra," I said quietly.

"Yes?" I heard from across the room.

"I'm sorry about earlier,"

"It's okay Mizuki,"

"I know how unusual it is for a shinigami and a human to actually be friends," I said, "And by treating you like that I've realized I'm taking advantage of that fact."

"Really Mizuki, it was a simple argument. I am aware of your stress, you needn't be bothered,"

"If you're sure," I said anxiously before closing my eyes and drifting into an uneasy sleep.

I awoke with a start the next morning. I had been once again plagued by the dream. But then again, I wasn't sure if plagued was the word I would use. For it hadn't been an unpleasant dream in any way, but it certainly was not a normal one.

I stretched and went downstairs, almost tripping on the bottom stair like I often did. I found my morning-person in her usual kitchen spot, directly in front of the toaster and waffle press. She turned around as I entered the room.

"Good morning, Zuki," she said.

"Morning Kay," I replied, sitting to the island, putting my head down.

Normally, I didn't let trivial things such as dreams bother me, but this one was really tweaking on my nerves. It bothered me that the main character of my dream and even it's setting was a mystery. If there was something I hated more than anything, it was a question without an answer. That's one reason why I made it job to answer such questions. My head cradled in my arms, I gritted my teeth. I didn't know how many minutes had passed before I heard, "Something bothering you Mizuki?"

"Nah, I'm fine Kay," came muffled from my arms.

"Then... Would you mind putting your head up? I'm trying to give you your toast and I really don't want to get the fluff in your hair."

"Sorry," I said, lifting my head and taking a bite of my toast.

"Are you ready to really start working on the case this morning?" she said brightly.

"Certainly," I said..

"Then finish up! I don't know why, but I'm really excited about starting this case!"

"Haha, that's great Kaori," I said.

I ate what I had left of my toast.

We went over to the computer and turned it on. I, as usual, sat in main control, whereas Kaori sat by my side, looking curiously at the screen.

"Kaori, while I start here, could you run into my cabinet and grab the Fort. file? You know where the key is."

"No problem," she said before dashing off.

I went to hack into the file that I had penetrated yesterday when something odd happened. My cursor disappeared. My program began to disappear, pixel by pixel rapidly melting away. As if that hadn't freaked me out enough, my screen then flickered on from black nothingless to bright white. A large caligraphic S appeared on my screen.

"Who are you and what are you doing in this network?" an artificial voice thundered from my speakers.

Kaori was coming downstairs just as the words were said. I quickly plugged in the computer's microphone and silently motioned for Kay to get the hand-held voice modifier from the drawer.

I caught it just in time.

I cautiously answered the unknown S.

"I could ask you the same question."

Who was this? I knew of L, but not of S. Was S some underling of L? Or possibly a copycat?  
"In all fairness, you are the one who hacked in the network I was originally in. You not only hacked here today, you broke through the firewall yesterday as well. I know exactly how you did it, and I want the truth on your identity."

"In all _fairness_," I said, "You've taken over my screen quite indescreetly. Which gives me a right to obtain your identity first."

"We will get no where arguing!" the voice said, "If you tell me your name, I shall give you mine. Then you shall state your business."

"Sounds fair," I said, "I am Madge."

"I am S," she said simply.

Damn. How did I fall for such a mediocre trick?

"Now, your business?"

"I was simply looking for insight on the area, planning to vacation," I lied without missing a beat,

"You said you were originally there," I said, "By only saying you simply exsisted there, I'm leaded to guess that you are not the originator of this network, therefore, nothing more than a hacker yourself."

There was silence. _Gotcha, _I thought.

"That is neither here, nor there," S said, gaining their confidence back, "You however are not designated to be here."

"And are you?"

More silence.

"Just steer clear of this network, or I will make sure any computer in your possession never ignites again!"

"Fine!" I said loudly.  
"I will tell you my true business here," I said. I had no choice. I had to give in.

"I am currently secretly investigating the Fortunato case."

"That case is taken..." I heard a minute and a half later. The voice cut off.

I waited. I heard incoherent mutters.

About 5 minutes later, S emerged.

"You are Madge, correct?"

"Correct,"

"And you are a detective?"

"Also correct,"

"I shall be momentarily mailing you filed. I have linked your computer. When you receive the message, read it, copy its details onto a disposable piece of loose leaf paper,"

"Alright?" I said, confused.

The screen went black. My computer was restarting.

When it had completely reloaded, a rich text file opened on my screen.

_**Madge,**_

_** Please copy these details onto a piece of loose leaf paper.**_

_** Tomorrow morning at nine thirty A.M, you are to go to the 30th floor of the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower. Bring all of the data you have collected on the Fortunato case**_

_** There, you will meet a man named Watari.**_

_** He will bring you to meet me and my investigative partner, S.**_

_** Please do not be alarmed: this meeting is entirely safe and confidential.**_

_** L**_

I couldn't believe it. On my screen, was a message from L. Nonetheless, as creeped out as I was, I copied the information and folded it safe in my jacket. My jaw was dropped. In twelve minutes, my day which had intended to go normally as any investigation before it had had turned 360 degrees around. Tomorrow morning, at 9:30, Kaori and I (for I wasn't going anywhere without her) would be meeting the greatest detective of the century.


	3. Chapter 3: Meetings

(Authors not: Sorry it took so long to post guys! Writers block sucks -.-)

After the incredible message, I didn't say a word. The message on my computer deleted itself. Kaori looked over at me and immediately started to talk.

"Oh my gosh, Mizuki!" she said, her voice up three octaves higher than usual.

"This is so amazing! I mean, we're actually gonna meet L! I knew this was gonna be a cool case but I never suspected this! This is so awesome, I'm so excited! What do you think he's like? And what about this S? Is it a boy or a girl? What are they gonna be like? Wow, I can't wait for tomorrow! Do you think they're gonna want us to help on the case? Oh that'd be so..."

I cut her off. "Kaori," I said, "Shut up."

She pouted.

"I'm sorry, but I can't think when you're rambling like that."

"Okay, sorry," she said.

I put my pen in my mouth and chewed the cap. I was nervous. Could this be a trap? It seemed legit, but how could I be sure? Everyone knew Watari was the only one on the outside in direct contact with L, so it wouldn't be that hard of a lie to create. But then again... I really couldn't know unless I took a chance and went.

"Kaori," I said, after a few minutes of silent thinking, "It's true we do have to go to this meeting, but I really want you to be cautious. We have no idea what we're walking into. You know I hate approaching anything blind, but we have no choice."

"Of course, Mizuki," she said.

I was very protective of Kaori. Her childish manner made her gullible, and her equally child-like emotions made her fragile. I was her protector. I guarded her mind, her emotions, and her life. I'd never had a sibling, so I wasn't sure what bonds like that were like, but I'd known and loved Kaori since the age of 5. She may not have been born to the same blood as me, but she was my sister. I cared for her, and I could never stand for anything or anyone harming her.

"Are we going to do any more research?" she asked.

"No, I think that'd be pointless. If we really are meeting L tomorrow morning, assuming it's really L, then anything I could find in the next twenty four hours would be information he's most likely already aware of," I said, still chewing on my pen.

"Okay then... I need to occupy myself. I'm gonna go paint," she said, slowly moving away. I was thinking very hard, and she knew that any bystanders at this point were really nothing more than an annoyance while I was in this state.

When my brain slowed down a bit, I removed myself from my unblinkingly still stature and went to get some coffee. Caffeine was my savior at times like this.

Kaori came down with one of her painted porcelain plates about an hour after she'd gone up to paint it. I was sipping my over sweetened coffee when she came to show me.

"What do you think?" she asked, holding the plate to my level sight.

"I think it's amazing, Kaori," I said.

She had a talent for painting flowers. The sakura that were on the plate looked as if they were really blooming. We had a cherry tree outside on our lawn, but since we rarely left the inside of the house albeit when we needed to, we didn't often get to experience its beauty up close.

Kaori was an amazing artist. When she wasn't cooking or investigating, sure enough she was painting.

"Do you want to paint another one with me?" she said.

"Not right now, actually, I think I'm gonna try and sleep."

"Sleep? Mizuki... Yesterday you were fighting me to stay awake because no sleep didn't bother you, now you're getting extra? Are you feeling okay? This isn't like you."

"I'm fine Kay, I just don't want to get over tired, and I doubt I'll be able to sleep tonight," I said,

"Alright," she said, her mouth lopsided, as if she wanted to say something but worried she ought not to.

"Wake me up if we're contacted again, 'kay?"

"Of course, have a nice nap."

I went upstairs. Did I really intend on sleeping? No. Conversations with Amra were hard to have since she rarely said much in front of Kaori. She preferred to speak only with me, being her host and all, and I could tell she had wanted to say something.

When we reached my bedroom, I turned around after closing my door behind me and locked it.

"Are you going to tell me what's bothering you now?" I said.

"No, but I do have something to say."

"And?"

"Tomorrow, when you meet this L person... Are you sure you ought to bring Kaori?"

My eyes widened.

"Amra, what are you saying? You know I bring Kaori everywhere... Why shouldn't I?"

"What if she interferes somehow?"

"I doubt she will... And she has every right to come. She's my investigative assistant, it's her job too!"

"No need to get so defensive, Mizuki, I was just saying that perhaps it would be in all our best interests if you..."

"Leave my best friend behind?!" I finished for her, my tone fiery, "Amra, you should know by now that that is impossible."

"Yes, I was afraid you'd say that," she said sadly.

"Are you going to tell me what's actually bothering you now?"

"No, I don't think so," she sighed.

"Ugh," I said, "That's really annoying you know."

"Is it?" she said, before she floated into the corner.

I flopped down onto my bed and put my pillow over my face. It was a good way to think. Everything seemed blocked out besides my own thoughts, which were what I wanted to see.

Amra's suggestion was weird, out of the blue, and somehow (and how I did not know), was definitely connected to how she had been acting recently. I pushed that slightly to the side. Not only did I have to worry about Amra, I had to worry about what I was to do tomorrow morning. Meet L? I'd never dreamed...

Somehow, through all my stress and anxiety, I drifted to sleep. It didn't last very long, however. You know how, when you first fall asleep, you get the feeling as though you're falling? I had that. Only instead of falling into a pit, or off the back of a bicycle, or any other normal dreams, I was falling into a dimension unknown. In my awakening fright, not only did I spasm, but I fell off of my bed.

I heard Amra snicker from her corner.

"Shut up," I muttered, lifting myself from the floor.

I unlocked the door and walked down the hall. I listened downstairs before descending. I heard Kaori humming brightly as she cooked what I was assuming was dinner; I'd obviously slept through lunch.

I smiled. All my qualms about my friend seemed unnecessary. She was obviously just fine. I walked down the stairs, careful of the trick step, and went into the kitchen.

"Evening, sleepy-head," she said when I walked into the room.

"Hi," I said, "What ethnicity of food are we experimenting with tonight?" I said.

"Hispanic!" she said enthusiastically. She stirred the Spanish rice in the pan.

"Looks good," I said, grabbing some of the rice out of the pan before it was finished. I'd always done this to playfully annoy Kay, and as I'd planned, she smirked at me before smacking my hand.

We laughed.

An hour and a half later, dinner was over and the night loomed. I wanted to bite my nails. With night came morning, and with morning came L...

_Hold yourself together!_ I yelled at myself in my head, _You are a detective, not a chicken. There is nothing to be nervous about._

"Mizuki?" Kaori suddenly said while doing the dishes as I got a juice box out of the fridge.

"Yes?" I said, stabbing the straw through the top.

"You know how when we were little I used to come to your place and we'd stack a bunch of pillows on your floor? And I'd sleep there?"

"Yeah?"

"You think we could do that tonight? Come on. Just 'cause we're 21 doesn't mean we can't have sleepovers," she said.

I thought about it.

"I don't see why not," I said finally, causing her to run over and give me a big, jumpy, soapy hug.

While she finished up, I got as many pillows as we had in the bedspread closet and spread them across my floor.

I looked behind me and Amra was looking at me funnily.

"It's called a sleepover. Someone comes over to someone else's place and sleeps there. Kaori is sleeping in my room tonight, so I'm laying out pillows for her to sleep on," I explained.

"Oh," Amra said.

"Not that interesting," I said.

I expected Kaori to want to talk all night long, but I was proved wrong when she laid down and went fast asleep. For some reason, it seemed, she only wanted to sleep near me for comfort.

Weird. But I didn't mind, I'd rather have Kay feel safe than have an empty bedroom.

I was awake. So awake that the word sleep didn't even function in my brain. I laid there, in the dark. I looked over at my alarm clock periodically. 12 o'clock. 1 o'clock. 2 o'clock....

At around four thirty I fell asleep.

This time the dream was so vivid I was almost frightened. I could make out my stranger a little bit more. No longer was he a shape of black nothingness. He was made of some sort of television static, that flickered colors on and off everywhere. I strained my eyes to make out a face behind the static, but I found it impossible.

My alarm went off at seven o'clock. I awoke from my dream, even more frustrated. I'd always felt a second closer to naming my stranger.

"Kaori," I said wearily, throwing a pillow at her, "Up."

"I'm getting up, I'm getting up," she said, throwing off her covers.

We both went to our separate bathrooms to get showered and dressed. I chose a simple black sweater and dress pants. It was a little chilly out for the middle of September.

I ate my breakfast being careful not to get any white sticky specks on my shirt. My brain was cold with anxiety, and I had goose bumps running up and down my arms.

After I finished my toast, Kaori went into her bathroom to straighten her hair. I snuck up into my bedroom, and found it. I had a perfectly sized wooden box that I had hidden in a secret compartment in my closet. It held my Death Note.

Amra's eyes grew wide as I removed the note book from the box and ripped out a page.

"And what are you planning to do with that?" she said, staring from behind my shoulder.

"It's a precaution. I need to make sure we're safe, and this," I held up the folded up piece of paper, "Is the only way to do that."

"Ah, I see. Good idea," she said.

I nodded and folded the paper and slid it into the inner lining of my pocket.

"Okay, you ready Kaori?" I said when we both reached the hallway.

"Yeah, I think," she said.

"Okay," I took a deep breath, "Lets go."

I had put my case file, plus what I had printed into a small suitcase and locked it. Nobody was getting into my files unless I allowed it.

We went outside and got into my car. It was a nice little car, and I sort of regretted that I didn't get to drive it often. But that was no matter at the moment. I started the car and we began to drive off to the building. Of course, the city was rushing, as it was every day, and it took me awhile to get through all of Tokyo's traffic.

When we finally reached the Roppangi Hills Mori Tower, I found a place to park (an agonizing task) and we entered. My heart going a hundred beats a second, Kaori and I silently searched for an elevator. When we found one, we entered it, and with a shaking hand, I pressed the button that would take us to the thirtieth floor.

I could hear Kaori's heart thunder as I stood next to her. When we hit the thirtieth floor, after a few people's stops along the way, we stepped out onto the floor.

I looked around until an older gentleman came up behind me.

"Excuse me," he said, "Are you Madge?"

I jumped around.

"Yes," I breathed, "Are you Watari?"

"Why, yes I am," he said, "And who is your friend?" he added, peering over at Kaori, "She was not requested."

"It was also not requested that she stayed behind," I replied, "She is Kym, my investigative assistant."

"Very well," he said.

He beckoned for us to follow him, and we cautiously obliged. He led us out into a car, and once we were seated, he turned around and held out strips of cloth that suspiciously looked like blindfolds. They were.

"I must ask you on L's request that you wear these, please," he said, "Until we know you better, you understand that it would be far better if you did not know our exact location."

I hesitated, but Kaori reached forward and put her's on. She unseeingly looked over at me.

"I think we can definitely trust him, Mizuki," she said.

"I suppose you're right," I said, taking mine and tying it behind my head.

I was then blinder than I had been when we entered this situation.

"Thank you for your cooperation," he said.

I nodded.

I felt the engine rumble as the car started. I put my hand that wasn't holding the suitcase on the seat. If I felt which opposite direction we swayed when we turned and memorized it, I could get a brief analysis as to wear we were going. This proved very difficult, for we encountered many twists and turns, but I kept track.

Finally the car came to a stop. My anxiety went up several notches.

"Please take eachother's hands, for I've been given orders not to take off the blindfolds until we are inside the building,"

"Of course, " I said politely. There was no reason I ought to be rude; he was very polite to us, after all.

I grabbed Kaori's hand gently and pulled her out through my way. I held out my arm, suitcase in hand.

"You're going to have to guide me, Mr. Watari," I said,

He laughed. "No problem," he said, grabbing my wrist and pulling me forward. I followed carefully, watching my steps, which Kaori was obviously not doing. She was tripping and sliding everywhere, but I kept my grip on her.

Amra was following behind us somewhere. I wasn't sure exactly where she was, but she was near us, like she always was. Kaori could see Amra, but, even after 2 years of living with her, was still somewhat frightful of her.

We went through a door, and stopped. Watari let go of my hand.

"I have to ask you to please surrender any cell phones, pagers, or anything of that sort here please," he said, taking off our blindfolds.

"Security purposes?" I said, taking my cell phone out of my pocket and handing it over. He put it in what looked like a lock box along with Kaori's.

"Yes," he said, "Now, follow me, please."  
We followed him to an elevator. I didn't pay attention what floor we were going to, because it didn't matter. Whatever floor we were headed to, L was on that floor, and we were going to see him regardless.

Finally, the doors opened.

I was shaking, but I tried my best to maintain posture and stay presentable; this was professional and I intended to make it look that way. Kaori was obviously thinking the same thing, because I felt her trembling slow down considerably as she shook herself into preparation.

He led us down a hall way. He stopped in front of a door and pressed a code into the pad. His hand moved far too fast for me to keep up with what he was typing.

The door opened, and we went inside.

After entering the room, we were first greeted by a girl. She was very thin. She had long black hair that she had tied into loose pigtails down the sides, and gothic attire. She glided when she walked up to meet us.

"My name is S," she said, taking my hand.

"You are Madge?" she said, peering at Kaori just as Watari had.

"Yes, and this is Kym, my investigative assistant."

"Oh," she said, "Well, welcome. Did you bring the case info as requested?"

"Yes," I said, holding up the suitcase.

That's when a man walked into the room. That was the first time I saw him.

A man, hunched over, wearing a simple outfit, walked by me. His dark hair was a mess, pointing in all directions. He had very dark circles under his eyes and a very pointed facial structure.

I also noticed something else. He was beautiful.


	4. Chapter 4: Working Together

[author's note: I apologize so much everyone... I've been really busy and slacking on my fanfiction, and I feel really guilty for making you wait this long. I am also guilty about the shortness of this chapter. Once I get some more spare time, this story will pick up. I promise, just bear with me until! I love you guys!

-Tenshi]

"I am L," he said when he reached my presence.

"I'm Madge," I said, almost shakily.

My thoughts had to stay in the professional range. This was about the case, and nothing else. I still couldn't help thinking… But no, I mustn't.

"Nice to meet you," I added, remembering my manners.

"I'm Kym," Kaori said beside me, obviously remembering hers as well.

"And you," he said.

He said nothing about Kaori not being requested to appear, unlike his counters.

"May I see your case information?" he said, his eyes traveling to the small suitcase I still held.

"Yes, of course," I said, laying the suitcase on the table by my elbow and unlocking it. I opened the case and pulled out the file, which had already grown to considerable size with all of the information I had gained the first night of investigation.

He eyed the file and I handed it to him. He quickly picked through it with speed that made my eyes wide. If this really was L, the rumors of his greatness were certainly not lying.

"Very good," he said, "You've deduced about the same as I have."

Damn. I was hoping I'd be somewhat ahead. But no matter; at least we were at the same level now.

"It's a difficult case," I said, "Because there are so many missing links it makes me wonder if we actually have a puzzle."

"Yes, that's what I've been thinking," he said. His voice was absent minded, as if he was constantly searching for something in his head. But then again, perhaps he was.

"I'd like to just find one missing link," I said, "Because then we'd have _something _to go on."

"Yes," he said.

Wow. Had I ever started a conversation with somebody like that before? It was strange… As if I was already comfortable speaking with L although we had only met minutes ago.

"I was wondering," I said, he looked up from the file, "What you thought about survivors? They were believed to be insane when they were found. They were hospitalized, only to die days later? That's the part that doesn't seem to fit."

"I'd be interested on _your _theory on that, actually," he said.

"Well, I haven't formed an exact theory yet, but I think it's weird. I mean, if one of them died, demise being their own mental state, I would understand, but both of them dying within a day of each other, simultaneously? The probability of that happening naturally is about 20 to 100," I said.

He looked up at me, his eyes bright.

"That's a very interesting theory, I will look into it," he said, I detected a hint of excitement in his tone. I'd obviously found something worth finding.

"So will I," I said. I wanted it clear that I would not simply be a one-time resource. I never stopped when I started a case, and the fact that someone else was on it too did not bother me one bit.

"And do you have any other theories relating to this case?" he said, as he started eating a cake that Watari had brought out for him.

"Well, I'm still formulating some things, but I'd like to take a closer look, also into the cave that the victims came from," I said.

"The police have investigated the cave but..." He started.

"They might have missed something," I finished his sentence for him.

"Exactly," he said, "You're very bright, Madge," He said.

"Likewise, L," I said.

"I'd much prefer, if we are going to work on this case together, seeing how I've already seen that you're going to work on this case whether I'd approve you to or not, that you call me Ryuzaki from now on, for safety purposes," he said.

"Alright, Ryuzaki," I said. Of course. He'd probably want a code name. Hell, I was using one and he wasn't even aware of it.

Just then, the girl S, who had been having a short conversation with Kaori, came over to us. Before she could say anything, I looked over at her and said,

"S, you must have an outside code name to go by too, don't you?"

I had taken her by surprise.

"Yes, actually," she said, "And I was about to tell you."

"Okay?"

"You may call me Sayura, in confidence," she said.

"I'll remember that, Sayura."

For the next hour, we discussed the possible ways we could go about the case. It was strange. When I wasn't speaking to L, but to Sayura or Kaori, I felt like a baby bird that had fallen from it's nest when it's mother was away. Helpless. Away from the safety of my home.

But when I spoke to L (I called him that in the sanctity of my own mind, for it came easier to me than the fake name Ryuzaki), I felt as though I had found comfort. Like I was the baby bird and my mother had brought me back home.

But it was probably only because of his high detective status. I'm sure everyone else felt this way around him too, right?

"Madge?" he suddenly turned to me, while we were on the topic of the crime's setting.

"Yes?" I said.

"You seem to be right on the dot with this investigation so far... What are your thoughts on the specific location?"

"I think it has a purpose," I said, "Because had it been a normal countryside cave, then it would be assumed it was put there only to avoid witnesses. But it was an underground catacomb system, which used to run beneath a very old house that no longer stands. I think that it has something to do with the case considerably."

"That's interesting, because I too was thinking along those lines, " he said, in his absent minded voice. I mentally kicked myself. I had the thought that I was developing a fondness for it. Perhaps I was.

"So as I said before, I think our best route at the moment would be to investigate the catacombs," I said, "The scene of the crime always holds clues, as long as you look for them right."

"Yes," he said. He looked as though he was thinking very hard.

This case was definitely a difficult one, and I knew it. Whether or not working with L was going to be difficult... I was unsure.


End file.
